Some of my relatives were minimum wage cook/babysitters at a preschool. Without the preschool, a lot of moms would have to stop working to take care of their kids.

Most preschools here provide minimum care and nutrition. They'd beat crying kids until the kids fall asleep. Food would be porridge, with a budget of one whole chicken per month. They end up undernourished with no love. They learn to hate school. They end up underproductive and often dangerous because they loathe everything associated with school - math, science, literature, work. Some end up hating authority.

My wife quit her engineering job to do a preschool. It was a large salary drop, but economically, it meant other moms could work. One of those moms ended up landing a huge deal in Mexico, enough for retirement and enough for her husband to quit his job. She probably couldn't have done that if she had to be a stay at home mom.

I pay more for my kids' early education than I paid for my college education, because I want them to know that learning can be fun, even if it's just the first few years. But to get that, I think the teachers themselves need to be paid pretty good rates.